Albert Barnes Commentary Revelation 7:17

"for the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne shall be their shepherd, and shall guide them unto fountains of waters of life: and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes." — Revelation 7:17 (ASV)

For the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne. (See the notes on Revelation 5:6).

He is still the great agent in promoting the happiness of the redeemed in heaven.

Shall feed them. Rather, shall exercise over them the office of a shepherd—pomanei. This includes much more than mere feeding. It embraces all the care that a shepherd takes of his flock—watching them, providing for them, guarding them from danger. (Compare Psalm 23:1-2, 6; Psalms 36:8).

(See the notes on Isaiah 40:11).

And shall lead them unto living fountains of waters. Living fountains refer to running streams, as contrasted with standing water and stagnant pools. (See the notes on John 4:10).

The allusion is undoubtedly to the happiness of heaven, represented as fresh and ever-flowing, like streams in the desert. No image of happiness, perhaps, is more vivid, or would be more striking to an inhabitant of Eastern lands, than that of such fountains flowing in sandy and burning wastes. The word living here must refer to the fact that that happiness will be perennial. These fountains will always bubble; these streams will never dry up. The thirst for salvation will always be gratified; the soul will always be made happy.

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. This is a new image of happiness taken from another place in Isaiah: The Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces (Isaiah 25:8). The expression is one of exquisite tenderness and beauty. The poet Burns said that he could never read this without being affected to the point of weeping.

Of all the negative descriptions of heaven, there is perhaps no one better suited to produce consolation than this. This is a world of weeping—a vale of tears. Philosophers have sought a brief definition of man, and have sought in vain. Would there be any better description of him, representing the reality of his condition here, than to say that he is one who weeps?

Who in the human family has not shed a tear? Who has not wept over the grave of a friend; over his own losses and cares; over his disappointments; over the treatment he has received from others; over his sins; over the follies, vices, and woes of his fellow human beings?

And what a change it would make in our world if it could be said that henceforth not another tear would be shed, and not a head would ever be bowed again in grief! Yet this is to be the condition of heaven. In that world there is to be no pain, no disappointment, no bereavement.

No friend is to lie in dreadful agony on a sickbed; no grave is to be opened to receive a parent, a wife, or a child; no gloomy prospect of death is to draw tears of sorrow from the eyes. To that blessed world, when our eyes run down with tears, we are permitted to look forward; and the prospect of such a world should help to wipe away our tears here—for all our sorrows will soon be over.

As already remarked, there was a beautiful propriety, at a time when such calamities impended over the church and the world—when there was such a certainty of persecution and sorrow—in permitting the mind to rest on the contemplation of these happy scenes in heaven, where all the redeemed, in white robes, and with palms of victory in their hands, would be gathered before the throne.

To us also now, amidst the trials of the present life—when friends leave us; when sickness comes; when our hopes are blasted; when calumnies and reproaches come upon us; when, standing on the verge of the grave, and looking down into the cold tomb, our eyes pour forth floods of tears—it is a blessed privilege to be permitted to look forward to that brighter scene in heaven, where not a pang shall ever be felt, and not a tear shall ever be shed.